"Michael Horowitz" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone had any experiences with subject cooking school? I'm looking
> for an occassional day course for a 'food enthusiast' - Mike

My mother-in-law has taken a few recreational classes there, and has enjoyed
them very much.

I was just looking at their web site, and saw a few classes that looked
worthwhile.....sorry to have missed the Winter Soups demonstration class on
Jan. 10, but the participatory Mozzarella Workshop and Smoking and BBQ
classes look interesting...heck, there are several I wouldn't mind
attending.

I'd love to hear about it if you decide to go try it out!

Chris

Anyone had any experiences with subject cooking school? I'm looking
for an occassional day course for a 'food enthusiast' - Mike

>
>Anyone had any experiences with subject cooking school? I'm looking
>for an occassional day course for a 'food enthusiast' - Mike

My niece took courses there and had a GREAT experience. Graduated and is now
teaching privately.

Michael Horowitz > writes:

> Anyone had any experiences with subject cooking school? I'm looking
> for an occassional day course for a 'food enthusiast' - Mike

Yes. I've taken a few of the daytime and evening "demonstration"
classes and they were fun. Plus you get to eat and drink so if you
think of it as a meal, with educational stuff thrown in, it's a
bargain.

What I really like, however, is the hands-on courses. I took a
weekend-long Primary Skills class. I thought I was a pretty decent
cook, but had to unlearn a lot of bad habits. Taught me basics
(dissecting chicken, making stock, reducing stock for sauces) -- the
the classic french techniques. They had a Primary Skills 2 weekend
which was also quite good. My S.O. took a cheese-making hands-on
class and really enjoyed it; we now get home-made mozarella for our
pizza. I'm signed up for participation courses in Thai this season,
which is a full day, and looking forward to it.

They've got lots of courses. Brian Patterson's BBQ & Smoking class is
a hoot. Others are more serious. I had a bit of a disappointing
class in doing pizza, because it didn't stress the crust and
variations thereof. Then again, I'm using Reinhart's "Pain a la
Ancienne" wet wet retarded ferment, and Thorn's beat-it-up dough from
_Pot on the Fire_ so maybe I'm looking for more nerdy stuff.

(They have a weekend retreat thing in Mercersburg PA which we went to
last year: real good time, lots of hands on, lots of getting yelled at
by the maestro himself -- "more salt, more salt! didn't you taste
it??". It was a bit intense but I learned a lot and had a good time.
And of course the food didn't suck at all :-)